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Mandeville Weekly News

PRIME MINISTER TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO MERGER

Prime Minster, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says he will be paying close attention to the merger of the HEART Trust/NTA, National Youth Service (NYS) and the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL).

Mr. Holness says he believes this merger can become a strong example of the public sector modernisation process in action, as the Government moves to streamline operations and deliver its services efficiently. “We want to make that an example of how it can be done without grave dislocation but with an increase in service to the public,” he said.

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, announced on February 1 that the training institutions will be merged to eliminate overlap and duplication in operations and that is in line with the Government’s Public Sector Rationalisation Programme, pointing out that the merger will also allow for more resources to be allocated to other critical agencies within the Ministry. “If you combine the budgets of the NYS and JFLL it is about $800 million. So, what is happening is that HEART is absorbing that budget and the operations and this will allow for the resources to be otherwise utilised for other activities within the broader Ministry of Education operations,” he explained.